Tenney celebrates at White House after GOP starts to dismantle Obamacare

Updated May 4, 2017 at 9:41 PM;Posted May 4, 2017 at 8:15 PM

Donald Trump

Rep. Claudia Tenney, far right, watches as President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 4, 2017, after the House pushed through a health care bill. Tenney, R-New Hartford, was among the 217 Republicans who passed the measure with two votes to spare. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
(Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Claudia Tenney says she knows the bill she voted for Thursday to begin dismantling Obamacare has flaws, but when it was time to decide she considered the alternative.

Tenney, R-New Hartford, said the idea of keeping costly mandates and taxes from the Affordable Care Act was something she couldn't support. So she voted for the GOP's American Health Care Act, helping the bill pass with two votes to spare, 217-213.

After the vote, Tenney joined her colleagues and boarded a bus to the White House, where dozens of House Republicans would take a victory lap in the Rose Garden with President Donald Trump.

Tenney stood behind Vice President Mike Pence and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in a prime front-row spot at a speech broadcast live by national news networks.

The first-term lawmaker, making her first trip to the Rose Garden, said her position among the GOP lawmakers had nothing to do with her level of support for the bill. She was placed behind Pence by a military attache after she arrived with a group that was seated at the back of the bus.

"We were the last group to get in," Tenney said in an interview. "But by the time we got there, they had lined everybody up in reverse order."

Later, Tenney and each of her colleagues received an invitation to stop by the Oval Office for a brief meeting and photo opportunity with Trump. Pence volunteered to take Tenney's photo with the president using her smartphone.

Only a few weeks earlier, Tenney may not have received the White House invitation because she was initially leaning toward a "no" vote on the GOP bill.

But Tenney said she started leaning toward a "yes" vote supporting the bill after House leaders included an amendment that would allow New York counties to transfer their Medicaid costs to the state.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other New York Democrats said the Medicaid amendment would shift $2.3 billion in costs from county governments to the state, creating a big budget hole.

Tenney, a former member of the state Assembly, insists the governor can find other sources from state "slush funds" to make up for the extra costs. But she acknowledged the GOP bill has flaws that will need to be addressed by the Senate.

"Although the American Health Care Act is not a perfect piece of legislation, it is the first step in a comprehensive process to bring choice, affordability, and quality back to health care," Tenney said.

Tenney's office phone lines were jammed throughout the day with callers trying to have some say on how she voted.

Before the vote, opponents of the GOP bill protested Thursday outside of Tenney's district offices in New Hartford and Binghamton, encouraging the congresswoman to oppose the plan.

Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, said he was disappointed by Tenney's vote because the GOP plan would ultimately leave some New Yorkers without reliable health insurance coverage.

"Her vote to dismantle our healthcare system with no viable plan for its replacement will mean New Yorkers will pay more for a lot less," Brindisi said. "They will have less care, and less access, but will pay higher premiums."